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''Watchmen'' is an American
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
maxiseries In the field of comic books, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined before production, and it differs from ...
by the British creative team of writer
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
, artist
Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...
and colorist
John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
. It was published monthly by
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-volume edition in 1987. ''Watchmen'' originated from a story proposal Moore submitted to DC featuring superhero characters that the company had acquired from
Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...
. As Moore's proposed story would have left many of the characters unusable for future stories, managing editor
Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Early ...
convinced Moore to create original characters instead. Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties, to deconstruct and satirize the superhero concept and political commentary. ''Watchmen'' depicts an alternate history in which superheroes emerged in the 1940s and 1960s and their presence changed history so that the United States won the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
and the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
was never exposed. In 1985, the country is edging toward
World War III World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...
with the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, freelance costumed vigilantes have been outlawed and most former superheroes are in retirement or working for the government. The story focuses on the protagonists' personal development and moral struggles as an investigation into the murder of a government-sponsored superhero pulls them out of retirement. Gibbons used a nine-panel grid layout throughout the series and added recurring symbols such as a blood-stained
smiley face A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...
. All but the last issue feature supplemental fictional documents that add to the series' backstory, and the narrative is intertwined with that of another story, an in-story pirate comic titled ''Tales of the Black Freighter'', which one of the characters reads. Structured at times as a nonlinear narrative, the story skips through space, time and plot. In the same manner, entire scenes and dialogue have parallels with others through synchronicity,
coincidence A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims, or it may lead t ...
and repeated imagery. A commercial success, ''Watchmen'' has received critical acclaim both in the comics and mainstream press. ''Watchmen'' was recognized in ''Time''s List of the 100 Best Novels as one of the best English language novels published since 1923. In a retrospective review, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's Nicholas Barber described it as "the moment comic books grew up". Moore opposed this idea, stating, "I tend to think that, no, comics hadn’t grown up. There were a few titles that were more adult than people were used to. But the majority of comics titles were pretty much the same as they'd ever been. It wasn’t comics growing up. I think it was more comics meeting the emotional age of the audience coming the other way." After a number of attempts to adapt the series into a feature film, director
Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since t ...
's ''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...
'' was released in 2009. A video game series, '' Watchmen: The End Is Nigh'', was released in the same year to coincide with the film's release. DC Comics published ''
Before Watchmen ''Before Watchmen'' is a series of comic books published by DC Comics in 2012. Acting as a prequel to the 1986 12-issue ''Watchmen'' limited series by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, the project consists of eight limited series and on ...
'', a series of nine prequel miniseries, in 2012, and ''
Doomsday Clock The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''. Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity ...
'', a 12-issue limited series and
sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
to the original ''Watchmen'' series, from 2017 to 2019 – both without Moore's or Gibbons' involvement. The second series integrated the ''Watchmen'' characters within the
DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...
, home to more recognizable DC superheroes like Superman, Batman and
Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth Holloway Marston, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byr ...
. A television continuation to the original comic, set 34 years after the comic's timeline, was broadcast on HBO from October to December 2019 with Gibbons' involvement. A comic continuation of the HBO series, titled ''
Rorschach Rorschach may refer to: * Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist ** Rorschach test, his psychological evaluation method involving inkblots * Rorschach (character), a character from the comics ''Watchmen'' * Rorschach (comic book), a 2020 comic * ...
'' and written by Tom King, began publication in October 2020. Moore has expressed his displeasure with later adaptations and asked that ''Watchmen'' not be adapted for future works.


Publication history

''Watchmen'', created by writer
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
and artist
Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...
, first appeared in the 1985 issue of DC Spotlight, the 50th anniversary special. It was eventually published as a 12-issue
maxiseries In the field of comic books, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined before production, and it differs from ...
from
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
,
cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unu ...
d September 1986 to October 1987. It was subsequently collected in 1987 as a DC Comics trade paperback that has had at least 24 printings as of March 2017;''Watchmen'' (DC, 1987)
at the Grand Comics Database. another trade paperback was published by
Warner Books Grand Central Publishing is a book publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group, originally established in 1970 as Warner Books when Warner Communications acquired the Paperback Library. When Time Warner sold their book publishing business to Hachet ...
, a DC sister company, in 1987.''Watchmen'' (Warner Books, 1987)
at the Grand Comics Database. In February 1988, DC published a limited-edition, slipcased hardcover volume, produced by Graphitti Design, that contained 48 pages of bonus material, including the original proposal and concept art.''Watchmen'' (DC, 1988)
at the Grand Comics Database. In 2005, DC released ''Absolute Watchmen'', an oversized slipcased hardcover edition of the series in DC's Absolute Edition format. Assembled under the supervision of Dave Gibbons, ''Absolute Watchmen'' included the Graphitti materials, as well as restored and recolored art by John Higgins. That December DC published a new printing of ''Watchmen'' issue #1 at the original 1986 cover price of $1.50 as part of its "Millennium Edition" line. In 2012, DC published ''
Before Watchmen ''Before Watchmen'' is a series of comic books published by DC Comics in 2012. Acting as a prequel to the 1986 12-issue ''Watchmen'' limited series by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons, the project consists of eight limited series and on ...
'', a series of nine prequel miniseries, with various creative teams producing the characters' early adventures set before the events of the original series. In the 2016 one-shot '' DC Universe: Rebirth Special'', numerous symbols and visual references to ''Watchmen'', such as the blood-splattered smiley face, and the dialogue between Doctor Manhattan and Ozymandias in the last issue of ''Watchmen'', are shown. Further ''Watchmen'' imagery was added in the ''DC Universe: Rebirth Special'' #1 second printing, which featured an update to Gary Frank's cover, better revealing the outstretched hand of
Doctor Manhattan Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan Osterman), often shortened to Dr. Manhattan or simply Manhattan is a fictional character who appears in comics published by DC Comics. He debuted in the graphic novel limited series ''Watchmen''. Doctor Manhattan ...
in the top right corner. Doctor Manhattan later appeared in the 2017 four-part DC miniseries '' The Button'' serving as a direct sequel to both ''DC Universe Rebirth'' and the 2011 storyline " Flashpoint". Manhattan reappears in the 2017–19 twelve-part sequel series ''Doomsday Clock''.


Background and creation

In 1983, DC Comics acquired a line of characters from
Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...
.Eury; Giordano, p. 117 During that period, writer
Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
contemplated writing a story that featured an unused line of superheroes that he could revamp, as he had done in his '' Miracleman'' series in the early 1980s. Moore reasoned that
MLJ Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Mighty Crusaders The Mighty Crusaders is a fictional superhero team published by Archie Comics. The team originally appeared in ''Fly-Man'' No. 31, #32 and No. 33 before being launched in its own title, ''Mighty Crusaders''. Written by Superman co-creator Jerry ...
might be available for such a project, so he devised a murder mystery plot which would begin with the discovery of the body of the Shield in a harbor. The writer felt it did not matter which set of characters he ultimately used, as long as readers recognized them "so it would have the shock and surprise value when you saw what the reality of these characters was". Moore used this premise and crafted a proposal featuring the Charlton characters titled ''Who Killed the
Peacemaker Peacemaker or The Peacemaker (in various forms) may refer to: Individuals and groups * UN Peacemaker, a project of the UN to support international peacemakers and mediators * Peace makers, a list of contemporary individuals and organizations inv ...
'',A Portal to Another Dimension: Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and Neil Gaiman
. ''
The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...
'' #116 (July 1987)
Archived
from the original on February 9, 2013. and submitted the unsolicited proposal to DC managing editor
Dick Giordano Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics. Early ...
.Eury; Giordano, p. 124 Giordano was receptive to the proposal, but opposed the idea of using the Charlton characters for the story. Moore said, "DC realized their expensive characters would end up either dead or dysfunctional." Instead, Giordano persuaded Moore to continue with new characters. Moore had initially believed that original characters would not provide emotional resonance for the readers, but later changed his mind. He said, "Eventually, I realized that if I wrote the substitute characters well enough, so that they seemed familiar in certain ways, certain aspects of them brought back a kind of generic super-hero resonance or familiarity to the reader, then it might work." Artist
Dave Gibbons David Chester Gibbons (born 14 April 1949) is an English comics artist, writer and sometimes letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries ''Watchmen'' and the Superman story "For the Man ...
, who had collaborated with Moore on previous projects, recalled he "must have heard on the grapevine that he was doing a treatment for a new miniseries. I rang Alan up, saying I’d like to be involved with what he was doing", and Moore sent him the story outline. Gibbons told Giordano he wanted to draw the series Moore proposed and Moore approved. Gibbons brought colorist
John Higgins John Higgins, (born 18 May 1975) is a Scottish professional snooker player. He has won 31 career ranking titles, placing him in third position on the all-time list of ranking event winners, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (39) and Stephen Hendry ( ...
onto the project because he liked his "unusual" style; Higgins lived near the artist, which allowed the two to "discuss he artand have some kind of human contact rather than just sending it across the ocean". Len Wein joined the project as its editor, while Giordano stayed on to oversee it. Both Wein and Giordano stood back and "got out of their way"; Giordano remarked later, "Who copy-edits Alan Moore, for God's sake?" After receiving the go-ahead to work on the project, Moore and Gibbons spent a day at the latter's house creating characters, crafting details for the story's milieu and discussing influences. The pair was particularly influenced by a '' Mad'' parody of Superman named " Superduperman"; Moore said, "We wanted to take Superduperman 180 degrees—dramatic, instead of comedic". Moore and Gibbons conceived of a story that would take "familiar old-fashioned superheroes into a completely new realm";Kavanagh, Barry.
The Alan Moore Interview: Watchmen characters
". Blather.net. October 17, 2000. Retrieved on October 14, 2008. Moore said his intention was to create "a superhero ''
Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...
''; something that had that sort of weight, that sort of density". Moore came up with the character names and descriptions, but left the specifics of how they looked to Gibbons. Gibbons did not sit down and design the characters deliberately, but rather "did it at odd times ..spend ngmaybe two or three weeks just doing sketches." Gibbons designed his characters to make them easy to draw;
Rorschach Rorschach may refer to: * Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist ** Rorschach test, his psychological evaluation method involving inkblots * Rorschach (character), a character from the comics ''Watchmen'' * Rorschach (comic book), a 2020 comic * ...
was his favorite to draw because "you just have to draw a hat. If you can draw a hat, then you've drawn Rorschach, you just draw kind of a shape for his face and put some black blobs on it and you're done."Illustrating ''Watchmen''
". WatchmenComicMovie.com. October 23, 2008. Retrieved on October 28, 2008. Moore began writing the series very early on, hoping to avoid publication delays such as those faced by the DC limited series ''
Camelot 3000 ''Camelot 3000'' is an American twelve-issue comic book limited series written by Mike W. Barr and penciled by Brian Bolland. It was published by DC Comics from 1982 to 1985 as one of its first direct market projects, and as its first maxi-serie ...
''.Heintjes, Tom. "Alan Moore On (Just About) Everything". ''The Comics Journal''. March 1986. When writing the script for the first issue, Moore said he realized, "I only had enough plot for six issues. We were contracted for 12!" His solution was to alternate issues that dealt with the overall plot of the series with origin issues for the characters.Jensen, Jeff.
Watchmen: An Oral History (3 of 6)
. ''Entertainment Weekly''. October 21, 2005. Retrieved on October 8, 2008. Moore wrote very detailed scripts for Gibbons to work from. Gibbons recalled that " e script for the first issue of ''Watchmen'' was, I think, 101 pages of typescript—single-spaced—with no gaps between the individual panel descriptions or, indeed, even between the pages." Upon receiving the scripts, the artist had to number each page "in case I drop them on the floor, because it would take me two days to put them back in the right order", and used a highlighter pen to single out lettering and shot descriptions; he remarked, "It takes quite a bit of organizing before you can actually put pen to paper."Stewart, Bhob. "Synchronicity and Symmetry". ''The Comics Journal''. July 1987. Despite Moore's detailed scripts, his panel descriptions would often end with the note "If that doesn't work for you, do what works best"; Gibbons nevertheless worked to Moore's instructions.Amaya, Erik.
Len Wein: Watching the Watchmen
.
Comic Book Resources ''Comic Book Resources'', also known by the initialism CBR, is a website dedicated to the coverage of comic book–related news and discussion. History Comic Book Resources was founded by Jonah Weiland in 1995 as a development of the Kingdom Co ...
. September 30, 2008. Retrieved on October 3, 2008. In fact, Gibbons only suggested a single change to the script: a compression of Ozymandias' narration while he was preventing a sneak attack by Rorschach, as he felt that the dialogue was too long to fit with the amount of action expressed; Moore agreed and re-wrote the scene. Gibbons had a great deal of autonomy in developing the visual look of ''Watchmen'', and frequently inserted background details that Moore admitted he did not notice until later. Moore occasionally contacted fellow comics writer Neil Gaiman for answers to research questions and for quotes to include in issues. Despite his intentions, Moore admitted in November 1986 that there were likely to be delays, stating that he was, with issue five on the stands, still writing issue nine. Gibbons mentioned that a major factor in the delays was the "piecemeal way" in which he received Moore's scripts. Gibbons said the team's pace slowed around the fourth issue; from that point onward the two undertook their work "just several pages at a time. I'll get three pages of script from Alan and draw it and then toward the end, call him up and say, 'Feed me!' And he'll send another two or three pages or maybe one page or sometimes six pages."Stewart, Bhob. "Dave Gibbons: Pebbles in a Landscape". ''The Comics Journal''. July 1987. As the creators began to hit deadlines, Moore would hire a taxi driver to drive 50 miles and deliver scripts to Gibbons. On later issues the artist even had his wife and son draw panel grids on pages to help save time. Near the end of the project, Moore realized that the story bore some similarity to " The Architects of Fear", an episode of '' The Outer Limits'' television series. The writer and Wein (an editor) argued over changing the ending, and when Moore refused to give in, Wein quit the book. Wein explained, "I kept telling him, 'Be more original, Alan, you've got the capability, do something different, not something that's already been done!' And he didn't seem to care enough to do that."Ho, Richard. "Who's Your Daddy??" ''Wizard''. November 2004. Moore acknowledged the ''Outer Limits'' episode by referencing it in the series' last issue.


Synopsis


Setting

''Watchmen'' is set in an alternate reality that closely mirrors the contemporary world of the 1980s. The primary difference is the presence of superheroes. The
point of divergence Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
occurs in the year 1938. Their existence in this version of the United States is shown to have dramatically affected and altered the outcomes of real-world events such as the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
and the presidency of
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
.Wright, p. 271 In keeping with the realism of the series, although the costumed crimefighters of ''Watchmen'' are commonly called "superheroes", only one, named Doctor Manhattan, possesses any superhuman abilities.Wright, p. 272 The war in Vietnam ends with an American victory in 1971 and Nixon is still president as of October 1985 upon the repeal of term limits and the
Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
not coming to pass. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan occurs approximately six years later than in real life. When the story begins, the existence of Doctor Manhattan has given the U.S. a strategic advantage over the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, which has dramatically increased Cold War tensions. Eventually, by 1977, superheroes grow unpopular among the police and the public, leading them to be outlawed with the passage of the Keene Act. While many of the heroes retired, Doctor Manhattan and another superhero, known as The Comedian, operate as government-sanctioned agents. Another named Rorschach continues to operate outside the law.Reynolds, p. 106


Plot

In October 1985, New York City detectives are investigating the murder of Edward Blake. With the police having no leads, costumed vigilante Rorschach decides to probe further. Rorschach deduces Blake to have been the true identity of The Comedian, a costumed hero employed by the U.S. government, after finding his costume and signature smiley-face pin badge. Rorschach believes he has discovered a plot to terminate costumed adventurers and sets about warning four of his retired comrades: Daniel Dreiberg (an inventor and formerly the second Nite Owl), the superpowered and emotionally detached Jon Osterman (codenamed Doctor Manhattan) and his lover Laurie Juspeczyk (the second Silk Spectre), and Adrian Veidt (once the hero
Ozymandias "Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's c ...
, and now a successful businessman). Dreiberg, Veidt, and Manhattan attend Blake's funeral, where Dreiberg tosses Blake's pin badge in his coffin before he is buried. Manhattan is later accused on national television of being the cause of cancer in friends and former colleagues. When the government takes the accusations seriously, Manhattan exiles himself to Mars. As the U.S. depends on Manhattan as a strategic military asset, his departure throws humanity into political turmoil, with the Soviets invading Afghanistan to capitalize on the perceived American weakness. Rorschach's concerns appear vindicated when Veidt narrowly survives an assassination attempt. Rorschach himself is framed for murdering a former supervillain named Moloch. Though he attempted to flee from the authorities, Rorschach is ultimately captured and unmasked as Walter Kovacs. Neglected in her relationship with the once-human Manhattan, whose now-godlike powers and transformation have removed him completely from the everyday concerns of living beings, and no longer kept on retainer by the government, Juspeczyk stays with Dreiberg. They begin a romance, don their costumes, and resume vigilante work as they grow closer together. With Dreiberg starting to believe some aspects of Rorschach's conspiracy theory, the pair take it upon themselves to break him out of prison. After looking back on his own personal history, Manhattan places the fate of his involvement with human affairs in Juspeczyk's hands. He teleports her to Mars to make the case for emotional investment. During the course of the argument, Juspeczyk is forced to come to terms with the fact that Blake, who once attempted to rape her mother (the original Silk Spectre), was, in fact, her biological father following a second, consensual relationship. This discovery, reflecting the complexity of human emotions and relationships, reignites Manhattan's interest in humanity. On Earth, Nite Owl and Rorschach continue to uncover the conspiracy and find evidence that Veidt may be behind the plan. Rorschach writes his suspicions about Veidt in his journal, in which he has been recording his entire investigation, and mails it to ''New Frontiersman'', a local right-wing newspaper. The pair then confront Veidt at his Antarctic retreat. Veidt explains his underlying plan is to save humanity from impending nuclear war by faking an alien invasion in New York, which will annihilate half the city's population. He hopes this will unite the superpowers against a perceived common enemy. He also reveals that he had murdered The Comedian when he discovered his plan, arranged for Manhattan's past associates to contract cancer, staged the attempt on his own life in order to place himself above suspicion, and killed Moloch in order to frame Rorschach. This was all done in an attempt to prevent his plan from being exposed. Nite Owl and Rorschach find Veidt's logic callous and abhorrent. They say that they will stop him, but Veidt reveals that he already enacted his plan before they arrived. When Manhattan and Juspeczyk arrive back on Earth, they are confronted by mass destruction and death in New York, with a gigantic squid-like creature, created by Veidt's laboratories, dead in the middle of the city. Manhattan notices his prescient abilities are limited by
tachyon A tachyon () or tachyonic particle is a hypothetical particle that always travels faster than light. Physicists believe that faster-than-light particles cannot exist because they are not consistent with the known laws of physics. If such partic ...
s emanating from the Antarctic and the pair teleport there. They discover Veidt's involvement and confront him. Veidt shows everyone news broadcasts confirming that the emergence of a new threat has indeed prompted peaceful co-operation between the superpowers; this leads almost all present to agree that concealing the truth is in the best interests of world peace. Rorschach refuses to compromise and leaves, intent on revealing the truth. As he is making his way back, he is confronted by Manhattan who argues that at this point, the truth can only hurt. Rorschach declares that Manhattan will have to kill him to stop him from exposing Veidt, which Manhattan duly does. Manhattan then wanders through the base and finds Veidt, who asks him if he did the right thing in the end. Manhattan cryptically responds that "nothing ever ends" before leaving Earth. Dreiberg and Juspeczyk go into hiding under new identities and continue their romance. Back in New York, the editor at ''New Frontiersman'' asks his assistant to find some filler material from the "crank file", a collection of rejected submissions to the paper, many of which have not been reviewed yet. The series ends with the young man reaching toward the pile of discarded submissions, near the top of which is Rorschach's journal.


Characters

With ''Watchmen'', Alan Moore's intention was to create four or five "radically opposing ways" to perceive the world and to give readers of the story the privilege of determining which one was most morally comprehensible. Moore did not believe in the notion of "
ramming In warfare, ramming is a technique used in air, sea, and land combat. The term originated from battering ram, a siege weapon used to bring down fortifications by hitting it with the force of the ram's momentum, and ultimately from male sheep. Thus, ...
regurgitated morals" down the readers' throats and instead sought to show heroes in an ambivalent light. Moore said, "What we wanted to do was show all of these people, warts and all. Show that even the worst of them had something going for them, and even the best of them had their flaws." ; Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias: Drawing inspiration from
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
, Veidt was once the superhero Ozymandias, but has since retired to devote his attention to the running of his own enterprises. Veidt is believed to be the smartest man on the planet. Ozymandias was based on
Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt is a fictional superhero character originally published by Charlton Comics. Publication history Charlton Comics The character debuted in ''Peter Cannon ... Thunderbolt'' #1 (Jan. 1966), part of Charlton editor Dick Gior ...
; Moore liked the idea of a character who "us dthe full 100% of his brain" and " adcomplete physical and mental control". Richard Reynolds noted that by taking initiative to "help the world", Veidt displays a trait normally attributed to villains in superhero stories, and in a sense he is the "villain" of the series.Reynolds, p. 110 Gibbons noted, "One of the worst of his sins skind of looking down on the rest of humanity, scorning the rest of humanity." ; Daniel Dreiberg / Nite Owl II: A retired superhero who utilizes owl-themed gadgets. Nite Owl was based on the
Ted Kord Theodore Stephen "Ted" Kord is the second Blue Beetle, a superhero who was originally published by Charlton Comics and later picked up by DC Comics. This version of the character was created by Steve Ditko and first appeared as a back-up feature i ...
version of the
Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the ri ...
. Paralleling the way Ted Kord had a predecessor, Moore also incorporated an earlier adventurer who used the name "Nite Owl", the retired crime fighter Hollis Mason, into ''Watchmen''. While Moore devised character notes for Gibbons to work from, the artist provided a name and a costume design for Hollis Mason he had created when he was twelve. Richard Reynolds noted in ''Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology'' that despite the character's Charlton roots, Nite Owl's modus operandi has more in common with the DC Comics character Batman. According to Klock, his civilian form "visually suggests an impotent, middle-aged Clark Kent." ; Edward Blake / The Comedian: One of two government-sanctioned heroes (along with Doctor Manhattan) who remains active after the Keene Act is passed in 1977 to ban superheroes. His murder, which occurs shortly before the first chapter begins, sets the plot of ''Watchmen'' in motion. The character appears throughout the story in flashbacks and aspects of his personality are revealed by other characters. The Comedian was based on the Charlton Comics character
Peacemaker Peacemaker or The Peacemaker (in various forms) may refer to: Individuals and groups * UN Peacemaker, a project of the UN to support international peacemakers and mediators * Peace makers, a list of contemporary individuals and organizations inv ...
, with elements of the
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
spy character Nick Fury added. Moore and Gibbons saw The Comedian as "a kind of
Gordon Liddy George Gordon Battle Liddy (November 30, 1930 – March 30, 2021) was an American lawyer, FBI agent, talk show host, actor, and convicted felon in the Watergate scandal as the chief operative in the White House Plumbers unit during the Nixon admi ...
character, only a much bigger, tougher guy". Richard Reynolds described The Comedian as "ruthless, cynical, and nihilistic, and yet capable of deeper insights than the others into the role of the costumed hero." ; Dr. Jon Osterman / Doctor Manhattan: A superpowered being who is contracted by the United States government. Scientist Jon Osterman gained power over
matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic part ...
when he was caught in an "Intrinsic Field Subtractor" in 1959. Doctor Manhattan was based upon Charlton's
Captain Atom Captain Atom is a superhero appearing in American comic books, first in the 1960s by Charlton Comics before being acquired in the 1980s by DC Comics. Captain Atom has existed in three basic incarnations. Publication history Captain Atom was crea ...
, who in Moore's original proposal was surrounded by the shadow of nuclear threat. However, the writer found he could do more with Manhattan as a "kind of a quantum super-hero" than he could have with Captain Atom. In contrast to other superheroes who lacked scientific exploration of their origins, Moore sought to delve into
nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
and quantum physics in constructing the character of Dr. Manhattan. The writer believed that a character living in a quantum universe would not perceive time with a linear perspective, which would influence the character's perception of human affairs. Moore also wanted to avoid creating an emotionless character like Spock from '' Star Trek'', so he sought for Dr. Manhattan to retain "human habits" and to grow away from them and humanity in general. Gibbons had created the blue character
Rogue Trooper ''Rogue Trooper'' is a science fiction strip in the British comic book, comic ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'', created by Gerry Finley-Day and Dave Gibbons in 1981. It portrays the adventures of a "Supersoldier, Genetic Infantryman" named Rogue ...
and explained he reused the blue skin motif for Doctor Manhattan as it resembles human skin tonally, but has a different hue. Moore incorporated the color into the story, and Gibbons noted the rest of the comic's color scheme made Manhattan unique.Watchmen Secrets Revealed
. WatchmenComicMovie.com. November 3, 2008. Retrieved on November 5, 2008. Moore recalled that he was unsure if DC would allow the creators to depict the character as fully nude, which partially influenced how they portrayed the character. Gibbons wanted to be tasteful in depicting Manhattan's nudity, selecting carefully when full frontal shots would occur and giving him "understated" genitals—like a classical sculpture—so the reader would not initially notice it. ; Laurie Juspeczyk / Silk Spectre II: The daughter of Sally Jupiter (the first Silk Spectre, with whom she has a strained relationship) and The Comedian. Of Polish heritage, she had been the lover of Doctor Manhattan for years. While Silk Spectre was originally supposed to be the Charlton superheroine Nightshade, Moore was not particularly interested in that character. Once the idea of using Charlton characters was abandoned, Moore drew more from heroines such as Black Canary and
Phantom Lady Phantom Lady is a fictional superheroine, one of the first such characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was subsequently published by a series of now-defunct comic book com ...
. ; Walter Joseph Kovacs / Rorschach: A vigilante who wears a white mask that contains a symmetrical but constantly shifting ink blot pattern, he continues to fight crime in spite of his outlaw status. Moore said he was trying to "come up with this quintessential
Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular act ...
character—someone who's got a funny name, whose surname begins with a 'K,' who's got an oddly designed mask". Moore based Rorschach on Ditko's creation
Mr. A Mr. A is a fictional comic book hero created by Steve Ditko. Unlike most of Ditko's work, the character of Mr. A remained the property of Ditko, who wrote and illustrated the stories in which the character appeared entirely himself. The characte ...
; Ditko's Charlton character The Question also served as a template for creating Rorschach. Comics historian Bradford W. Wright described the character's world view "a set of black-and-white values that take many shapes but never mix into shades of gray, similar to the ink blot tests of his namesake". Rorschach sees existence as random and, according to Wright, this viewpoint leaves the character "free to 'scrawl isown design' on a 'morally blank world. Moore said he did not foresee the death of Rorschach until the fourth issue when he realized that his refusal to compromise would result in him not surviving the story.


Art and composition

Moore and Gibbons designed ''Watchmen'' to showcase the unique qualities of the comics medium and to highlight its particular strengths. In a 1986 interview, Moore said, "What I'd like to explore is the areas that comics succeed in where no other media is capable of operating", and emphasized this by stressing the differences between comics and film. Moore said that ''Watchmen'' was designed to be read "four or five times", with some links and allusions only becoming apparent to the reader after several readings. Dave Gibbons notes that, " it progressed, ''Watchmen'' became much more about the telling than the tale itself. The main thrust of the story essentially hinges on what is called a
macguffin In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail for ...
, a gimmick ... So really the plot itself is of no great consequence ... it just really isn't the most interesting thing about ''Watchmen''. As we actually came to tell the tale, that's where the real creativity came in."Salisbury, p. 82 Gibbons said he deliberately constructed the visual look of ''Watchmen'' so that each page would be identifiable as part of that particular series and "not some other comic book".Salisbury, p. 77 He made a concerted effort to draw the characters in a manner different from that commonly seen in comics. The artist tried to draw the series with "a particular weight of line, using a hard, stiff pen that didn't have much modulation in terms of thick and thin" which he hoped "would differentiate it from the usual lush, fluid kind of comic book line".Salisbury, p. 80 In a 2009 interview, Moore recalled that he took advantage of Gibbons' training as a former surveyor for "including incredible amounts of detail in every tiny panel, so we could choreograph every little thing". Gibbons described the series as "a comic about comics". Gibbons felt that "Alan is more concerned with the social implications of he presence of super-heroesand I've gotten involved in the technical implications." The story's alternate world setting allowed Gibbons to change details of the American landscape, such as adding electric cars, slightly different buildings, and spark hydrants instead of
fire hydrant A fire hydrant, waterplug, or firecock (archaic) is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. It is a component of active fire protection. Underground fire hydrants have been used in Europe and Asia since at least t ...
s, which Moore said, "perhaps gives the American readership a chance in some ways to see their own culture as an outsider would". Gibbons noted that the setting was liberating for him because he did not have to rely primarily on reference books. Colorist John Higgins used a template that was "moodier" and favored secondary colors. Moore stated that he had also "always loved John's coloring, but always associated him with being an
airbrush An airbrush is a small, Pneumatics, air-operated tool that Atomizer nozzle, atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint but also ink and dye, and Foundation (cosmetics), foundation. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is c ...
colorist", which Moore was not fond of; Higgins subsequently decided to color ''Watchmen'' in European-style flat color. Moore noted that the artist paid particular attention to lighting and subtle color changes; in issue six, Higgins began with "warm and cheerful" colors and throughout the issue gradually made it darker to give the story a dark and bleak feeling.


Structure

Structurally, certain aspects of ''Watchmen'' deviated from the norm in comic books at the time, particularly the panel layout and the coloring. Instead of panels of various sizes, the creators divided each page into a nine-panel grid. Gibbons favored the nine-panel grid system due to its "authority". Moore accepted the use of the nine-panel grid format, which "gave him a level of control over the storytelling he hadn't had previously", according to Gibbons. "There was this element of the pacing and visual impact that he could now predict and use to dramatic effect."
Bhob Stewart Robert Marion Stewart, known as Bhob Stewart (November 12, 1937 – February 24, 2014) was an American writer, editor, cartoonist, filmmaker, and active fan who contributed to a variety of publications over a span of five decades. His articles a ...
of ''
The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...
'' mentioned to Gibbons in 1987, that the page layouts recalled those of
EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950 ...
, in addition to the art itself, which Stewart felt particularly echoed that of
John Severin John Powers Severin (; December 26, 1921 – February 12, 2012) was an American comics artist noted for his distinctive work with EC Comics, primarily on the war comics ''Two-Fisted Tales'' and ''Frontline Combat''; for Marvel Comics, ...
. Gibbons agreed that the echoing of the EC-style layouts "was a very deliberate thing", although his inspiration was rather
Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...
, but it was altered enough to give the series a unique look. The artist also cited Steve Ditko's work on early issues of ''
The Amazing Spider-Man ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' is an ongoing American comic book series featuring the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man as its main protagonist. Being in the mainstream continuity of the franchise, it began publication in 1963 as a bimonthly per ...
'' as an influence, as well as '' Doctor Strange'', where "even at his most psychedelic ewould still keep a pretty straight page layout". The cover of each issue serves as the first panel to the story. Gibbons said, "The cover of the ''Watchmen'' is in the real world and looks quite real, but it's starting to turn into a comic book, a portal to another dimension." The covers were designed as close-ups that focused on a single detail with no human elements present. The creators on occasion experimented with the layout of the issue contents. Gibbons drew issue five, titled "Fearful Symmetry", so the first page mirrors the last (in terms of frame disposition), with the following pages mirroring each other before the center-spread is (broadly) symmetrical in layout. The end of each issue, with the exception of issue twelve, contains supplemental prose pieces written by Moore. Among the contents are fictional book chapters, letters, reports, and articles written by various ''Watchmen'' characters. DC had trouble selling ad space in issues of ''Watchmen'', which left an extra eight to nine pages per issue. DC planned to insert house ads and a longer letters column to fill the space, but editor Len Wein felt this would be unfair to anyone who wrote in during the last four issues of the series. He decided to use the extra pages to fill in the series' backstory. Moore said, "By the time we got around to issue #3, #4, and so on, we thought that the book looked nice without a letters page. It looks less like a comic book, so we stuck with it."


''Tales of the Black Freighter''

''Watchmen'' features a story within a story in the form of ''Tales of the Black Freighter'', a fictional comic book from which scenes appear in issues three, five, eight, ten, and eleven. The fictional comic's story, "Marooned", is read by a youth in New York City. Moore and Gibbons conceived a pirate comic because they reasoned that since the characters of ''Watchmen'' experience superheroes in real life, "they probably wouldn't be at all interested in superhero comics."Kavanagh, Barry.
The Alan Moore Interview: Watchmen, microcosms and details
. Blather.net. October 17, 2000. Retrieved on October 14, 2008. Gibbons suggested a pirate theme, and Moore agreed in part because he is "a big Bertolt Brecht fan": the ''Black Freighter'' alludes to the song " Seeräuberjenny" ("
Pirate Jenny "Pirate Jenny" (German: "") is a well-known song from ''The Threepenny Opera'' by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht. The English lyrics are by Marc Blitzstein. It is probably the second most famous song in the opera, after " Mack the Knife". ...
") from Brecht's '' Threepenny Opera''. Moore theorized that since superheroes existed, and existed as "objects of fear, loathing, and scorn, the main superheroes quickly fell out of popularity in comic books, as we suggest. Mainly, genres like horror, science fiction, and piracy, particularly piracy, became prominent—with EC riding the crest of the wave." Moore felt "the imagery of the whole pirate genre is so rich and dark that it provided a perfect counterpoint to the contemporary world of ''Watchmen''". The writer expanded upon the premise so that its presence in the story would add
subtext Subtext is any content of a creative work, which is not announced explicitly (by characters or author), but is implicit, or becomes something understood by the audience. Subtext has been used historically to imply controversial subjects without ...
and allegory. The supplemental article detailing the fictional history of ''Tales of the Black Freighter'' at the end of issue five credits real-life artist
Joe Orlando Joseph Orlando (April 4, 1927 – December 23, 1998) was an Italian American illustrator, writer, editor and cartoonist during a lengthy career spanning six decades. He was the associate publisher of '' Mad'' and the vice president of DC Comics, ...
as a major contributor to the series. Moore chose Orlando because he felt that if pirate stories were popular in the ''Watchmen'' universe that DC editor
Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various ...
might have tried to lure the artist over to the company to draw a pirate comic book. Orlando contributed a drawing designed as if it were a page from the fake title to the supplemental piece. In "Marooned", a young mariner (called "The Sea Captain") journeys to warn his hometown of the coming of ''The Black Freighter'', after he survives the destruction of his own ship. He uses the bodies of his dead shipmates as a makeshift raft and sails home, gradually descending into insanity. When he finally returns to his hometown, believing it to be already under the occupation of ''The Black Freighter''s crew, he makes his way to his house and slays everyone he finds there, only to discover that the person he mistook for a pirate was in fact his wife. He returns to the seashore, where he realizes that ''The Black Freighter'' has not come to claim the town, but rather to claim him; he swims out to sea and climbs aboard the ship. According to Richard Reynolds, the mariner is "forced by the urgency of his mission to shed one inhibition after another." Just like Adrian Veidt, he "hopes to stave off disaster by using the dead bodies of his former comrades as a means of reaching his goal". Moore stated that the story of ''The Black Freighter'' ends up specifically describing "the story of Adrian Veidt" and that it can also be used as a counterpoint to other parts of the story, such as Rorschach's capture and Dr. Manhattan's self-exile on Mars.


Symbols and imagery

Moore named
William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
as one of his main influences during the conception of ''Watchmen''. He admired Burroughs' use of "repeated symbols that would become laden with meaning" in Burroughs' only comic strip, " The Unspeakable Mr. Hart", which appeared in the British underground magazine ''Cyclops''. Not every intertextual link in the series was planned by Moore, who remarked that "there's stuff in there Dave had put in that even I only noticed on the sixth or seventh read", while other "things ..turned up in there by accident." A stained
smiley face A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...
is a recurring image in the story, appearing in many forms. In ''The System of Comics'', Thierry Groensteen described the symbol as a recurring motif that produces "rhyme and remarkable configurations" by appearing in key segments of ''Watchmen'', notably the first and last pages of the series—spattered with blood on the first, and sauce from a hamburger on the last. Groensteen cites it as one form of the circle shape that appears throughout the story, as a "recurrent geometric motif" and due to its symbolic connotations. Gibbons created a smiley face badge as an element of The Comedian's costume in order to "lighten" the overall design, later adding a splash of blood to the badge to imply his murder. Gibbons said the creators came to regard the blood-stained smiley face as "a symbol for the whole series", noting its resemblance to the
Doomsday Clock The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''. Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity ...
ticking up to midnight. Moore drew inspiration from psychological tests of behaviorism, explaining that the tests had presented the face as "a symbol of complete innocence". With the addition of a blood splash over the eye, the face's meaning was altered to become simultaneously radical and simple enough for the first issue's cover to avoid human detail. Although most evocations of the central image were created on purpose, others were coincidental. Moore mentioned in particular that on "the little plugs on the spark hydrants if you turn them upside down, you discover a little smiley face". Other symbols, images, and allusions that appeared throughout the series often emerged unexpectedly. Moore mentioned that " e whole thing with ''Watchmen'' has just been loads of these little bits of synchronicity popping up all over the place". Gibbons noted an unintended theme was contrasting the mundane and the romantic, citing the separate sex scenes between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre on his couch and then high in the sky on Nite Owl's airship. In a book of the craters and boulders of Mars, Gibbons discovered a photograph of the Galle crater, which resembles a happy face, which they worked into an issue. Moore said, "We found a lot of these things started to generate themselves as if by magic", in particular citing an occasion where they decided to name a lock company the " Gordian Knot Lock Company".


Themes

The initial premise of the series was to examine what superheroes would be like "in a credible, real world". As the story became more complex, Moore said ''Watchmen'' became about "power and about the idea of the superman manifest within society." The title of the series refers to the question "Who will watch the watchmen themselves?", famously posed by the
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
satirist
Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the '' Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...
(as "''
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase found in the work of the Roman poet Juvenal from his ''Satires'' (Satire VI, lines 347–348). It is literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?", though it is also known by variant translations, such as "Who ...
''"), although Moore was not aware of the phrase's classical origins until Harlan Ellison informed him.Plowright, Frank. "Preview: Watchmen". ''
Amazing Heroes ''Amazing Heroes'' was a magazine about the comic book medium published by American company Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, ''The Comics Journal'', ''Amazing Heroes'' was a hobbyist magazine rather than an anal ...
'' #97 (June 15, 1986), p. 43 Moore commented in 1987, "In the context of ''Watchmen'', that fits. 'They're watching out for us, who's watching out for them? The writer stated in the introduction to the Graffiti hardcover of ''Watchmen'' that while writing the series he was able to purge himself of his nostalgia for superheroes, and instead he found an interest in real human beings. Bradford Wright described ''Watchmen'' as "Moore's obituary for the concept of heroes in general and superheroes in particular." Putting the story in a contemporary sociological context, Wright wrote that the characters of ''Watchmen'' were Moore's "admonition to those who trusted in 'heroes' and leaders to guard the world's fate". He added that to place faith in such icons was to give up personal responsibility to "the Reagans, Thatchers, and other 'Watchmen' of the world who supposed to 'rescue' us and perhaps lay waste to the planet in the process".Wright, p. 273 Moore specifically stated in 1986 that he was writing ''Watchmen'' to be "not anti-Americanism, utanti- Reaganism", specifically believing that "at the moment a certain part of Reagan's America isn't scared. They think they're invulnerable." Before the series premiered, Gibbons stated: "There's no overt political message at all. It's a fantasy extrapolation of what might happen and if people can see things in it that apply to the real America, then they're reading it into the comic .."Plowright, p. 54 While Moore wanted to write about "power politics" and the "worrying" times he lived in, he stated the reason that the story was set in an alternate reality was because he was worried that readers would "switch off" if he attacked a leader they admired. Moore stated in 1986 that he "was consciously trying to do something that would make people feel uneasy." Citing ''Watchmen'' as the point where the comic book medium "came of age", Iain Thomson wrote in his essay "Deconstructing the Hero" that the story accomplished this by "developing its heroes precisely in order to ''deconstruct'' the very idea of the hero and so encouraging us to reflect upon its significance from the many different angles of the shards left lying on the ground". Thomson stated that the heroes in ''Watchmen'' almost all share a nihilistic outlook, and that Moore presents this outlook "as the simple, unvarnished truth" to "deconstruct the would-be hero's ultimate motivation, namely, to provide a secular salvation and so attain a mortal immortality". He wrote that the story "develops its heroes precisely in order to ask us if we would not in fact be better off without heroes". Thomson added that the story's deconstruction of the hero concept "suggests that perhaps the time for heroes has passed", which he feels distinguishes "this postmodern work" from the deconstructions of the hero in the
existentialism Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
movement. Richard Reynolds states that without any supervillains in the story, the superheroes of ''Watchmen'' are forced to confront "more intangible social and moral concerns", adding that this removes the superhero concept from the normal narrative expectations of the genre. Reynolds concludes that the series' ironic self-awareness of the genre "all mark out ''Watchmen'' either as the last key superhero text, or the first in a new maturity of the genre". Geoff Klock eschewed the term "deconstruction" in favor of describing ''Watchmen'' as a "revisionary superhero narrative". He considers ''Watchmen'' and
Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...
's '' Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'' to be "the first instances ..of new kind of comic book ..a first phase of development, the transition of the superhero from fantasy to literature." He elaborates by noting that "Alan Moore's realism ..performs a ''
kenosis In Christian theology, ''kenosis'' () is the 'self-emptying' of Jesus. The word () is used in Philippians 2:7: " made himself nothing" ( NIV), or " eemptied himself" ( NRSV), using the verb form (), meaning "to empty". The exact meaning vari ...
'' towards comic book history ..
hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
does not ennoble and empower his characters ..Rather, it sends a wave of disruption back through superhero history ..devalue ngone of the basic superhero conventions by placing his masked crime fighters in a realistic world". First and foremost, "Moore's exploration of the ften compromisedmotives for costumed crimefighting sheds a disturbing light on past superhero stories, and forces the reader to reevaluate—to revision—every superhero in terms of Moore's ''kenosis''—his emptying out of the tradition". Klock relates the title to the quote by Juvenal to highlight the problem of controlling those who hold power and quoted repeatedly within the work itself. The deconstructive nature of ''Watchmen'' is, Klock notes, played out on the page also as, " ke Alan Moore's ''kenosis'', eidtmust destroy, then reconstruct, in order to build 'a unity which would survive him. Moore has expressed dismay that " e gritty, deconstructivist postmodern superhero comic, as exemplified by ''Watchmen'' ..became a genre". He said in 2003 that "to some degree there has been, in the 15 years since ''Watchmen'', an awful lot of the comics field devoted to these grim, pessimistic, nasty, violent stories which kind of use ''Watchmen'' to validate what are, in effect, often just some very nasty stories that don't have a lot to recommend them". Gibbons said that while readers "were left with the idea that it was a grim and gritty kind of thing", he said in his view the series was "a wonderful celebration of superheroes as much as anything else".


Publication and reception

''Watchmen'' was first mentioned publicly in the 1985 ''
Amazing Heroes ''Amazing Heroes'' was a magazine about the comic book medium published by American company Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, ''The Comics Journal'', ''Amazing Heroes'' was a hobbyist magazine rather than an anal ...
Preview''. When Moore and Gibbons turned in the first issue of their series to DC, Gibbons recalled, "What really clinched it ..was riter/artist
Howard Chaykin Howard Victor Chaykin (; born October 7, 1950) is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker. Early life ...
, who doesn't give praise lightly, and who came up and said, 'Dave what you've done on ''Watchmen'' is freaking A.'"Duin, Steve and Richardson, Mike. ''Comics: Between the Panels''. Dark Horse Comics, 1998. , p. 460–61 Speaking in 1986, Moore said, "DC backed us all the way ..and have been really supportive about even the most graphic excesses". To promote the series, DC Comics released a limited-edition badge ("button") display card set, featuring characters and images from the series. Ten thousand sets of the four badges, including a replica of the blood-stained
smiley face A smiley, sometimes referred to as a smiley face, is a basic ideogram that represents a smiling face. Since the 1950s it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram, or as a form of communication, such a ...
badge worn by the Comedian in the story, were released and sold. Mayfair Games introduced a ''Watchmen'' module for its '' DC Heroes'' Role-playing Game series that was released before the series concluded. The module, which was endorsed by Moore, adds details to the series' backstory by portraying events that occurred in 1966. ''Watchmen'' was published in single-issue form over the course of 1986 and 1987. The
limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
was a commercial success, and its sales helped DC Comics briefly overtake its competitor
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
in the comic book direct market. The series' publishing schedule ran into delays because it was scheduled with three issues completed instead of the six editor Len Wein believed were necessary. Further delays were caused when later issues each took more than a month to complete. One contemporaneous report noted that although DC solicited issue #12 for publication in April 1987, it became apparent "it ouldn'tdebut until July or August". After the series concluded, the individual issues were collected and sold in trade paperback form. Along with
Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...
's 1986 '' Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'' miniseries, ''Watchmen'' was marketed as a "
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
", a term that allowed DC and other publishers to sell similar comic book collections in a way that associated them with novels and dissociated them from comics. As a result of the publicity given to the books like the ''Watchmen'' trade in 1987, bookstores and public libraries began to devote special shelves to them. Subsequently, new comics series were commissioned on the basis of reprinting them in a collected form for these markets. ''Watchmen'' received critical praise, both inside and outside of the comics industry. ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' magazine, which noted that the series was "by common assent the best of breed" of the new wave of comics published at the time, praised ''Watchmen'' as "a superlative feat of imagination, combining sci-fi, political satire, knowing evocations of comics past and bold reworkings of current graphic formats into a mystery story". In 1988, ''Watchmen'' received a Hugo Award in the Other Forms category.1988 Hugo Awards
. The HugoAwards.com. Retrieved on September 22, 2008. According to Gibbons, Moore had his award placed upside down in his garden and used it as a bird table.
Dave Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for mos ...
reviewed ''Watchmen'' for ''
White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...
'' #96, and stated that "The modern myth of the Superhero is curiously powerful despite its usual silliness; ''Watchmen'' lovingly disassembles the mythology into bloodstained cogs and ratchets, concluding with the famous quotation ''
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase found in the work of the Roman poet Juvenal from his ''Satires'' (Satire VI, lines 347–348). It is literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?", though it is also known by variant translations, such as "Who ...
''"


Ownership disputes

Disagreements about the ownership of the story ultimately led Moore to sever ties with DC Comics. Not wanting to work under a
work for hire A work made for hire (work for hire or WFH), in copyright law in the United States, is a work that is subject to copyright and is created by employees as part of their job or some limited types of works for which all parties agree in writing to th ...
arrangement, Moore and Gibbons had a reversion clause in their contract for ''Watchmen''. Speaking at the 1985
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...
, Moore said: "The way it works, if I understand it, is that DC owns it for the time they're publishing it, and then it reverts to Dave and me, so we can make all the money from the
Slurpee Slurpee is the brand name for carbonated slushies sold by 7-Eleven and its subsidiaries A-Plus and Speedway. The brand first originated in 1966 when 7-Eleven made a licensing deal with The Icee Company to sell slushies in 7-Eleven stores. ...
cups." For ''Watchmen'', Moore and Gibbons received eight percent of the series' earnings. Moore explained in 1986 that his understanding was that when "DC have not used the characters for a year, they're ours." Both Moore and Gibbons said DC paid them "a substantial amount of money" to retain the rights. Moore added, "So basically they're not ours, but if DC is working with the characters in our interests then they might as well be. On the other hand, if the characters have outlived their natural life span and DC doesn't want to do anything with them, then after a year we've got them and we can do what we want with them, which I'm perfectly happy with." Moore said he left DC in 1989 due to the language in his contracts for ''Watchmen'' and his ''
V for Vendetta ''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing serial in the British anthol ...
'' series with artist David Lloyd. Moore felt the reversion clauses were ultimately meaningless because DC did not intend to let the publications go out of print. He told ''The New York Times'' in 2006, "I said, 'Fair enough,' ..'You have managed to successfully swindle me, and so I will never work for you again. In 2000, Moore publicly distanced himself from DC's plans for a 15th anniversary ''Watchmen'' hardcover release as well as a proposed line of action figures from DC Direct. While DC wanted to mend its relationship with the writer, Moore felt the company was not treating him fairly in regard to his
America's Best Comics America's Best Comics (ABC) is a comic book publishing brand. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of WildStorm, an idea proposed to Moore by WildStorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics. History ''America's Best ...
imprint (launched under the
WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wild ...
comic imprint, which was bought by DC in 1998; Moore was promised no direct interference by DC as part of the arrangement). Moore added, "As far as I'm concerned, the 15th anniversary of ''Watchmen'' is purely a 15th Anniversary of when DC managed to take the ''Watchmen'' property from me and Dave ibbons" Soon afterward, DC Direct canceled the ''Watchmen'' action-figure line, despite the company having displayed prototypes at the 2000
San Diego Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is c ...
.St-Louis, Hervé.
Watchmen Action Figures – Controversies and Fulfillment
". ComicBookBin.com, August 18, 2008. Retrieved on December 24, 2008.


Prequel projects

Moore stated in 1985 that if the limited series was well-received, he and Gibbons would possibly create a 12-issue prequel series called ''Minutemen'' featuring the 1940s superhero group from the story. DC offered Moore and Gibbons chances to publish prequels to the series, such as ''Rorschach's Journal'' or ''The Comedian's Vietnam War Diary'', as well as hinting at the possibility of other authors using the same universe. Tales of the Comedian's Vietnam War experiences were floated because ''
The 'Nam ''The 'Nam'' was a war comic book series detailing the U.S. war in Vietnam from the perspective of active-duty soldiers involved in the conflict. It was written by Doug Murray, initially illustrated by Michael Golden, edited by Larry Hama an ...
'' was popular at the time, while another suggestion was, according to Gibbons, for a "Nite Owl/Rorschach team" (in the manner of ''
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and p ...
''). Neither man felt the stories would have gone anywhere, with Moore particularly adamant that DC not go forward with stories by other individuals."Watchmen Round Table: Moore & Gibbons". ''
David Anthony Kraft David Anthony Kraft (May 31, 1952 – May 19, 2021) was an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He was primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, ''Comics Interview'', as well as for work for Marvel C ...
's Comics Interview''. Issue 65, 1988. Gibbons was more attracted to the idea of a ''Minutemen'' series because it would have "
aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...
homage to the simplicity and unsophisticated nature of Golden Age comic books—with the added dramatic interest that it would be a story whose conclusion is already known. It would be, perhaps, interesting to see how we got to the conclusion." In 2010, Moore told ''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
'' that DC offered him the rights to ''Watchmen'' back if he would agree to prequel and sequel projects. Moore said that "if they said that 10 years ago, when I asked them for that, then yeah it might have worked ..But these days I don't want ''Watchmen'' back. Certainly, I don't want it back under those kinds of terms." DC Comics co-publishers Dan DiDio and
Jim Lee Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...
responded: "DC Comics would only revisit these iconic characters if the creative vision of any proposed new stories matched the quality set by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons nearly 25 years ago, and our first discussion on any of this would naturally be with the creators themselves."Thill, Scott (July 21, 2010)
"Alan Moore: 'I Don't Want Watchmen Back'"
''
Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
''. Retrieved on July 21, 2010. Following months of rumors about a potential ''Watchmen'' follow-up project, in February 2012 DC announced it was publishing seven prequel series under the "''Before Watchmen''" banner. Among the creators involved were writers J. Michael Straczynski,
Brian Azzarello Brian Azzarello (born August 11, 1962 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American comic book writer and screenwriter who first came to prominence with the hardboiled crime series ''100 Bullets'', published by DC Comics' mature-audience imprint Vertigo. ...
,
Darwyn Cooke Darwyn Cooke (November 16, 1962 – May 14, 2016) was a Canadian comics artist, writer, cartoonist, and animator who worked on the comic books ''Catwoman'', '' DC: The New Frontier'', '' The Spirit'' and '' Richard Stark's Parker: The Hunter'' ...
, and Len Wein, and artists
Lee Bermejo Lee Bermejo is an American comic book writer and artist whose published work includes interior illustrations and cover art. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Brian Azzarello including '' Lex Luthor: Man of Steel'', the '' Joker'' ...
,
J. G. Jones Jeffrey Glen Jones is an American comics artist who is known for his work on titles such as ''Wanted'' and ''Final Crisis''. Early life Jones hails from Walker, Louisiana and attended Louisiana State University and the University at Albany, SUN ...
,
Adam Hughes Adam Hughes (born May 5, 1967) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known to American comic book readers for his renderings of pinup-style female characters, and his cover work on titles such as ''Wonder Woman'' and ''Catwoman''. H ...
, Andy Kubert, Joe Kubert, and Amanda Conner. Though Moore had no involvement with ''Before Watchmen'', Gibbons supplied the project with a statement in the initial press announcement:


Sequels


Comic book sequel: ''Doomsday Clock''

The sequel to ''Watchmen'', entitled ''Doomsday Clock'', is part of the DC Rebirth line of comics, additionally continuing a narrative established with 2016's one-shot '' DC Universe: Rebirth Special'' and 2017's crossover '' The Button'', both of which featured
Doctor Manhattan Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan Osterman), often shortened to Dr. Manhattan or simply Manhattan is a fictional character who appears in comics published by DC Comics. He debuted in the graphic novel limited series ''Watchmen''. Doctor Manhattan ...
in a minor capacity. The miniseries, taking place seven years after the events of ''Watchmen'' in November 1992, follows
Ozymandias "Ozymandias" ( ) is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822). It was first published in the 11 January 1818 issue of '' The Examiner'' of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley's c ...
as he attempts to locate Doctor Manhattan alongside Reginald Long, the successor of Walter Kovacs as Rorschach, following the exposure and subsequent failure of his plan for peace and the subsequent impending nuclear war between the United States and Russia. The series was revealed on May 14, 2017, with a teaser image displaying the Superman logo in the 12 o'clock slot of the clock depicted in ''Watchmen'' and the series title in the bold typeface used for ''Watchmen''. The first of a planned twelve issues was released on November 22, 2017. The story includes many DC characters but has a particular focus on Superman and Doctor Manhattan, despite Superman stated as being a fictional character in the original series—the series uses the plot element of the Multiverse (DC Comics), multiverse. Writer Geoff Johns felt like there was an interesting story to be told in Rebirth with Doctor Manhattan. He thought there was an interesting dichotomy between Superman—an alien who embodies and is compassionate for humanity—and Doctor Manhattan—a human who has detached himself from humanity. This led to over six months of debates amongst the creative team about whether to intersect the ''Watchmen'' universe with the
DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...
, through the plot element of alternate realities. He explained that ''Doomsday Clock'' was the "most personal and most epic, utterly mind-bending project" that he had worked on in his career.


Television series sequel

HBO brought on Damon Lindelof to develop a Watchmen (TV series), ''Watchmen'' television show, which premiered on October 20, 2019. Lindelof, a fan of the limited series, made the show a "remix" of the comic, narratively a sequel while introducing a new set of characters and story that he felt made the work unique enough without being a full reboot of the comic series. Among its main cast are Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Jeremy Irons. The television show takes place in 2019, 34 years after the end of the limited series, and is primarily set in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Due to liberal policies set by President Robert Redford to provide reparations to those affected by racial violence, white supremacist groups (following the writings of Rorschach) attack the police who enforce these policies, leading to laws requiring police to hide their identity and wear masks. This has allowed new masked crime fighters to assist the police against the supremacists. Doctor Manhattan, Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias, and Laurie Blake / Silk Spectre are central characters to the show's plot.


Adaptations


Film adaptation

There have been numerous attempts to make a film version of ''Watchmen'' since 1986, when producers Lawrence Gordon (producer), Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver acquired film rights to the series for 20th Century Fox. Fox asked Alan Moore to write a screenplay based on his story, but he declined, so the studio enlisted screenwriter Sam Hamm. Hamm took the liberty of re-writing ''Watchmen''s complicated ending into a "more manageable" conclusion involving an assassination and a time paradox.Hughes, David. "Who Watches the ''Watchmen''? – How The Greatest Graphic Novel of Them All Confounded Hollywood". ''The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made''. Chicago Review Press, 2002. , p. 144 Fox put the project into turnaround (filmmaking), turnaround in 1991, and the project was moved to Warner Bros. Pictures, where Terry Gilliam was attached to direct and Charles McKeown to rewrite it. They used the character Rorschach's diary as a voice-over and restored scenes from the comic book that Hamm had removed. Gilliam and Silver were only able to raise $25 million for the film (a quarter of the necessary budget) because their previous films had gone over budget. Gilliam abandoned the project because he decided that ''Watchmen'' would have been unfilmable. "Reducing [the story] to a two or two-and-a-half hour film ..seemed to me to take away the essence of what ''Watchmen'' is about," he said. After Warner Bros. dropped the project, Gordon invited Gilliam back to helm the film independently. The director again declined, believing that the comic book would be better directed as a five-hour miniseries. In October 2001, Gordon partnered with Lloyd Levin and Universal Studios, hiring David Hayter to write and direct.Stax.
David Hayter Watches ''The Watchmen''
. IGN.com. October 27, 2001. Retrieved on October 18, 2008. Hayter and the producers left Universal due to creative differences, and Gordon and Levin expressed interest in setting up ''Watchmen'' at Revolution Studios. The project did not hold together at Revolution Studios and subsequently fell apart.Linder, Brian.
Aronofksy Still Watching ''Watchmen''
. IGN.com. July 23, 2004. Retrieved on October 18, 2008. In July 2004, it was announced Paramount Pictures would produce ''Watchmen'', and they attached Darren Aronofsky to direct Hayter's script. Producers Gordon and Levin remained attached, collaborating with Aronofsky's producing partner, Eric Watson. Aronofsky left to focus on ''The Fountain'' and was replaced by Paul Greengrass. Ultimately, Paramount placed ''Watchmen'' in turnaround. In October 2005, Gordon and Levin met with Warner Bros. to develop the film there again. Impressed with
Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since t ...
's work on ''300 (film), 300'', Warner Bros. approached him to direct an adaptation of ''Watchmen''. Screenwriter Alex Tse drew from his favorite elements of Hayter's script, but also returned it to the original Cold War setting of the ''Watchmen'' comic. Similar to his approach to ''300'', Snyder used the comic book panel-grid as a storyboard and opted to shoot the entire film using live-action sets instead of green screens.Weiland, Jonah.
''300'' Post-Game: One-On-One With Zack Snyder
". ComicBookResources.com. March 14, 2007. Retrieved on March 16, 2007. He extended the fight scenes, and added a subplot about energy resources to make the film more topical. Although he intended to stay faithful to the look of the characters in the comic, Snyder intended Nite Owl to look scarier, and made Ozymandias' armor into a parody of the rubber muscle suits from the 1997 superhero film ''Batman & Robin (film), Batman & Robin''. After the trailer to the film premiered in July 2008, DC Comics president Paul Levitz said that the company had to print more than 900,000 copies of ''Watchmen'' trade collection to meet the additional demand for the book that the advertising campaign had generated, with the total annual print run expected to be over one million copies. While 20th Century Fox filed a lawsuit to block the film's release, the studios eventually settled, with Warner agreeing to give Fox 8.5 percent of the film's worldwide gross, including from sequels and spin-offs in return. The film was released to theaters in March 2009. ''Tales of the Black Freighter'' was adapted as a direct-to-video animated feature from Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Animation, which was released on March 24, 2009. It was originally included in the screenplay for the Watchmen (film), ''Watchmen'' film, but was cut due to budget restrictions, as the segment would have added $20 million to the budget, because Snyder wanted to film it in a stylized manner reminiscent of ''300 (film), 300''. Gerard Butler, who starred in ''300'', voices the Captain in the film. Jared Harris voices his deceased friend Ridley, whom the Captain hallucinates is talking to him. Snyder had Butler and Harris record their parts together. Snyder considered including the animated film in the final cut, but the film was already approaching a three-hour running time. Gerard Butler, who starred in ''300'', voices the Captain in the film, having been promised a role in ''Watchmen'' that never materialized. The ''Tales of the Black Freighter'' was given standalone DVD release which also will ''Under the Hood'', a documentary detailing the characters' backstories, named after the character Hollis Mason's (the first Nite Owl) memoirs. The film itself was released on DVD four months after ''Tales of the Black Freighter'', and in November 2009, a four-disc set was released as the "Ultimate Cut" with the animated film edited back into the main picture. The director's cut and the extended version of ''Watchmen'' both include ''Tales of the Black Freighter'' on their DVD releases. Len Wein, the comic's editor, wrote a video game prequel entitled '' Watchmen: The End Is Nigh''. Dave Gibbons became an adviser on Snyder's film, but Moore has refused to have his name attached to any film adaptations of his work.MacDonald, Heidi.
Moore Leaves DC for Top Shelf
. PublishersWeekly.com. May 30, 2005. Retrieved on April 15, 2006. Moore has stated he has no interest in seeing Snyder's adaptation; he told ''Entertainment Weekly'' in 2008 that " ere are things that we did with ''Watchmen'' that could only work in a comic, and were indeed designed to show off things that other media can't". While Moore believes that David Hayter's screenplay was "as close as I could imagine anyone getting to ''Watchmen''", he asserted he did not intend to see the film if it were made.Jensen, Jeff.
Watchmen: An Oral History (5 of 6)
. ''Entertainment Weekly''. October 21, 2005. Retrieved on October 8, 2008.


Motion comic

In 2008, Warner Bros. Entertainment released ''Watchmen Motion Comics'', a series of narrated animations of the original comic book. The first chapter was released for purchase in the summer of 2008 on digital video stores, such as iTunes Store. A DVD compiling the full motion comic series was released in March 2009.


Animated film

Warner Bros. announced in April 2017 that it is developing an Motion Picture Association of America film rating system, R-rated animated film based on the comic book, but no further progress has been made since this announcement.


Arrowverse

The HBO version of the ''Watchmen (TV series), Watchmen'' was referenced in the Arrowverse's ''Crisis on Infinite Earths (Arrowverse), Crisis on Infinite Earths'' crossover. A sign could be seen on a building on Earth-666 advertising the show. Earth-666 was an Earth inhabited by the Pre-Crisis version of Lucifer (DC Comics), Lucifer from the Lucifer (TV series), ''Lucifer'' television series. Tom Ellis (actor), Tom Ellis reprised his role from that series.


Legacy

A critical and commercial success, ''Watchmen'' is highly regarded in the comics industry and is frequently considered by several critics and reviewers as comics' greatest series and graphic novel.Albert, Aaron.
''Watchmen'' Graphic Novel Review
". About.com. Retrieved on March 11, 2013.Driscoll, Molly.
''Watchmen'' prequels provoke debate in comic book community
". ''The Christian Science Monitor''. February 1, 2012. Retrieved on March 11, 2013.All-Time Essential Comics
". IGN. Retrieved on March 11, 2013.''Watchmen'', Other DC Graphic Novels Announced as Kindle Fire Digital Exclusives
". ''Comic Book Resources''. September 29, 2011. Retrieved on March 22, 2013. In addition to being one of the first major works to help popularize the graphic novel publishing format alongside ''The Dark Knight Returns'', ''Watchmen'' has also become one of the best-selling graphic novels ever published.Johnston, Rich.
''Before Watchmen'' To Double Up For Hardcover Collections
". ''Bleeding Cool''. December 10, 2012. Retrieved on March 22, 2013. ''Watchmen'' was the only graphic novel to appear on ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
''s 2005 "All-''Time'' 100 Greatest Novels" list,Goldstein, Hilary.
''Watchmen'' Distinguished in Time
". ''IGN''. October 17, 2005. Retrieved on March 11, 2013. where ''Time'' critic Lev Grossman described the story as "a heart-pounding, heartbreaking read and a watershed in the evolution of a young medium."Grossman, Lev.
''Watchmen'' – ALL-''Time'' 100 Novels
". ''Time''. October 16, 2005. Retrieved on March 9, 2013. It later appeared on ''Time''s 2009 "Top 10 Graphic Novels" list, where Grossman further praised ''Watchmen'', proclaiming "It’s way beyond cliché at this point to call ''Watchmen'' the greatest superhero comic ever written-slash-drawn. But it’s true."Grossman, Lev.
''Watchmen'' – Top 10 Graphic Novels
". ''Time''. March 6, 2009. Retrieved on March 9, 2013. In 2008, ''Entertainment Weekly'' placed ''Watchmen'' at number 13 on its list of the best 50 novels printed in the last 25 years, describing it as "The greatest superhero story ever told and proof that comics are capable of smart, emotionally resonant narratives worthy of the label 'literature'." ''
The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...
'', however, ranked ''Watchmen'' at number 91 on its list of the Top 100 English-language comics of the 20th century. In ''Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History'', Robert Harvey wrote that, with ''Watchmen'', Moore and Gibbons "had demonstrated as never before the capacity of the [comic book] medium to tell a sophisticated story that could be engineered only in comics".Harvey, p. 150 In his review of the Absolute Edition of the collection, Dave Itzkoff of ''The New York Times'' wrote that the dark legacy of ''Watchmen'', "one that Moore almost certainly never intended, whose DNA is encoded in the increasingly black inks and bleak storylines that have become the essential elements of the contemporary superhero comic book," is "a domain he has largely ceded to writers and artists who share his fascination with brutality but not his interest in its consequences, his eagerness to tear down old boundaries but not his drive to find new ones." Alan Moore himself said his intentions with works like ''Marvelman'' and ''Watchmen'' were to liberate comics and open them up to new and fresh ideas, thus creating more diversity in the comics world by showing the industry what could be done with already existing concepts. Instead it had the opposite effect, causing the superhero comic to end up stuck in a "depressive ghetto of grimness and psychosis". In 2009, Lydia Millet of ''The Wall Street Journal'' contested that ''Watchmen'' was worthy of such acclaim, and wrote that while the series' "vividly drawn panels, moody colors and lush imagery make its popularity well-deserved, if disproportionate", that "it's simply bizarre to assert that, as an illustrated literary narrative, it rivals in artistic merit, say, masterpieces like Chris Ware's 'Acme Novelty Library' or almost any part of the witty and brilliant work of Edward Gorey". ''Watchmen'' was one of the two comic books, alongside '' Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'', that inspired designer Vincent Connare when he created the Comic Sans font. In 2009, Brain Scan Studios released the parody ''Watchmensch'', a comic in which writer Rich Johnston chronicled "the debate surrounding ''Watchmen'', the original contracts, the current legal suits over the Fox contract". Also in 2009, to coincide with the release of the ''Watchmen'' movie, IDW Publishing produced a parody one-shot comic titled ''Whatmen?!'' In September 2016, Hasslein Books published ''Watching Time: The Unauthorized Watchmen Chronology'', by author Rich Handley. The book provides a detailed history of the ''Watchmen'' franchise. In December 2017, DC Entertainment published ''Watchmen: Annotated'', a fully annotated black-and-white edition of the graphic novel, edited, with an introduction and notes by Leslie S. Klinger (who previously annotated Neil Gaiman's ''The Sandman (Vertigo), The Sandman'' for DC). The edition contains extensive materials from Alan Moore's original scripts and was written with the full collaboration of Dave Gibbons. Rorschach appears in Laura Beatty's 2019 novel, ''Lost Property (Beatty novel), Lost Property''.


See also

*
Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...
: ** The Question ** Peter Cannon, Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt * List of award-winning graphic novels * ''Irredeemable'' * Alan Moore bibliography *
Mr. A Mr. A is a fictional comic book hero created by Steve Ditko. Unlike most of Ditko's work, the character of Mr. A remained the property of Ditko, who wrote and illustrated the stories in which the character appeared entirely himself. The characte ...
* Pantheon (Lone Star Press), ''Pantheon'' (Lone Star Press) * ''Squadron Supreme''


Notes


References

* Eury, Michael; Giordano, Dick. ''Dick Giordano: Changing Comics, One Day at a Time''. TwoMorrows Publishing, 2003. * Groensteen, Thierry. ''The System of Comics''. University Press of Mississippi, 2007. * Harvey, Robert C. ''The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History''. University Press of Mississippi, 1996. * Klock, Geoff. ''How to Read Superhero Comics and Why''. Continuum International Publishing Group, Continuum, 2002. * Reynolds, Richard. ''Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology''. B. T. Batsford Ltd, 1992. * Sabin, Roger. ''Comics, Comix and Graphic Novels''. Phaidon Press, 1996; 2001. * Salisbury, Mark (editor). ''Artists on Comics Art''. Titan Books, 2000. * Thomson, Iain. "Deconstructing the Hero". ''Comics As Philosophy''. Jeff McLaughlin (editor). University Press of Mississippi, 2005. * Wright, Bradford W. ''Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America''. Johns Hopkins, 2001.


Further reading

* * * *


External links

* *
Watching The Detectives: An Internet Companion for Readers of ''Watchmen''
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